The Locker
by aisarete
Summary: Jack sometimes wonders whether or not he really left the Locker. WARNING: Jacken guess what that is


A Pirates of the Carribean fic.

Warning! Spoilers ahoy, plus mentions of such horrid (meh heh XD) things as character death, insanity, gore, violence, terrified!Jack and oh yeah, did I mention the /tentacle rape/?

Don't give me that look! It was a gift-fic for a friend. Though as horrible as I feel for writing this, I also get this wonderful tingly feeling when I think about it... I'm such a sadist. Delicious.

* * *

Sleep was a rarity in the Locker, more so than food. When it did come, it was too be feared; it was filled with things Jack did not want to face.

The memory of being swallowed, of monstrous teeth, and of heat and pain haunted him. He saw his precious ship, his whole world, shattered to pieces around him. His last glimpse of the ocean, clear and sparkling and as beautiful as ever, and the blue expanse of sky above. He remembered betrayal, and his heart being ripped out by the only people he cared for.

Instead of hating them, he tried to think well of them. He could see Lizzie's fierce smile and curious glance, the fire in her eyes when she fought. If he tried hard, he could recall Will's kind nature and eagerness to learn. Occasionally, he even had a kind thought for Norrington, who was a lot more like Jack himself than either of them would ever admit. He clung to these memories, even though they had betrayed him, and for a while stayed sane.

Eventually, memory faded into emotion, and emotion to a vague feeling that he had left something behind, or that something had left him - he wasn't sure which. Before long, he couldn't even remember who he was. Slowly, he began to break apart.

It was like looking into a ruined mirror; all shattered reflections of a person he wasn't sure existed. They were only parts of a whole, and he knew this, though he knew little else. He was tormented, and he couldn't even remember the reason why.

That was when the dreams began.

Terrifying dreams, dreams that left him pained and screaming and exhausted and all the more likely to sleep and fall victim again. And always, they were dreams of the Kraken.

They changed often, refreshed with new horrors he was sure he could not have thought of himself. Things happened to him in the dream world, unspeakable things. He would wake with wounds and bruises, shuddering and unable to walk or speak or even think, and unwilling to submit to even the slightest touch. This would last only a minute or so before the pain faded and he was fully returned to his waking hell, but before too long, sleep would take him once more and he was forced to surrender to his nightmares.

His memories were slow in returning, when he finally got out of the Locker. A few things came to him right away, but most took their time coming to him. However, his broken psyche remained with him, and so did the horrible dreams.

The first time he cried out in sleep, Will was the one who came to his cabin to shake him awake. He woke screaming and shaking, with tears streaming down his face. He curled into himself on the bed, shrinking away from Will's touch. He saw terror in Will's eyes and knew it was nothing compared to the terror on his own face.

It continued as such, every night, until he found the Kraken lying on the beach. Its too-intelligent eye was fixed upon him as he stared back at the creature. He reached out towards it and idly wondered whether his body was still inside of it. He knew it must be. Sometimes he felt insubstantial, like he would fall through the earth and end up back in the Locker. Sometimes he felt it didn't matter anyway, because he had brought the Locker with him.

He went back to the Kraken when no one was watching, looking it in the eye. The last of its life was slowly draining out of it as he stood there.

"You can't hurt me anymore." Jack said to it. One of the Kraken's great tentacles lifted up and wrapped around him weakly, as though trying to prove him wrong. Jack shivered uncontrollably, a wave of terror sweeping over him. Even as it died, it was still tremendously powerful; he could feel it.

"You c-can't… You _can't…_ YOU CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE!" Jack yelled. He pulled out his sword and cut off the tentacle that had wrapped itself around him. He lashed out wildly, cutting into the being, and it did nothing to stop him. He sliced into its stomach, releasing its entrails and letting forth a horrid, rotting smell. Amongst the mess, Jack spotted a familiar bandana and a glint of silver, and he knew the dreams over.

"You can't hurt me anymore…" he whispered brokenly. He stumbled away, becoming entangled in the Kraken's tentacles and collapsing onto the sand. He stayed that way until the others found him lying next to himself on the beach, unconscious in the dead Kraken's tentacles.


End file.
